This disclosure relates generally to electronics systems, and more particularly to a carrier board for attachment of an integrated circuit (IC) to a circuit board.
An electronics system may include a plurality of interconnected electronic components, such as ICs, that are mounted on a circuit board and a chassis. The electronic components may be connected to one other by electrical connections such as solder joints. During operation of the electronics system, heat is produced by the various electronic components, which may cause expansion and contraction (i.e., thermal cycling) of the materials that comprise the electronics system. The materials that comprise the chassis, circuit board, and electronic components used in an electronics system may have significant mismatches in their coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) relative to one another. This CTE mismatch may result in stress fractures in solder joints during thermal cycling that occurs during operation of the electronics system, which may cause failure of the electronics system. For example, an IC may be connected by, for example, screws, to an aluminum chassis, and also soldered to a circuit board in an electronics system. During operation of such an electronics system, the aluminum chassis may expand at a different rate than the circuit board, putting stress on the IC and potentially breaking the solder joints. Various heat dissipation techniques may be used to offset the effects of CTE mismatch; however, such heat dissipation techniques may not be sufficient to prevent damage to an electronics system due to CTE mismatch and thermal cycling.